Dave Chappelle Reveals His Intro to School Was ‘Kind of Traumatic’

Part of what makes Dave Chappelle so funny is his ability to pull stories from his real life and turn it into something that people of all different walks of life can enjoy. Whether the comedian is talking about his family, friends, or simply commenting on the state of the world from his perspective, Chappelle has a gift for finding the humor in his life and sharing it with the masses.

Even though Chappelle has spoken openly about his wife and children, and even made sketches about them, less is known about the family that Chappelle grew up with. The comedian doesn’t often speak about his parents or his siblings, so when he does it’s somewhat of a treat for fans. One story that many fans particularly loved was Chappelle recalling his very first day of school.

Dave Chappelle disliked school from a very young age

In an episode of Inside the Actors Studio, the A Star Is Born actor revealed that he did “very poorly” in elementary school. In fact, Chappelle shared that he was never a fan of school. “I never liked school from the first day,” the comedian revealed. “I just walked in there and said, ‘I hate this place, I hate its guts.’ I hated school and I know it’s not good to say to students.”

But what sparked this immediate hatred? Chapelle continued on to reveal that part of the reason he hated kindergarten had a lot to do with how his family introduced it to him. “But the way my mom introduced me to school was kind of traumatic, cause she didn’t tell me I was going,” the Sticks & Stones star shared. “She’s packing my lunchbox and all this stuff is happening. Then I thought were going for a walk. And then we walk into school and she was like, ‘I’m bouncing.’ And I was just in there.”

The ‘Sticks & Stones’ star got into a fight on his first day of kindergarten

Chappelle’s attitude toward school didn’t improve after his mother left. In fact, it got worse after Chappelle met his classmates. “I cried man, I cried,” the actor added. “These kids were just so mean and evil. I don’t know if people remember their first day in kindergarten, but I felt like these kids had met each other before and I was the only one who didn’t know anybody.”

But things still escalated from there when Chappelle got into a hilarious fight with a classmate. “And I got in a fight,” the comedian added. “This kid, I still remember his name, Paul, and we were coloring. He was coloring corn green, that really bugged me. And I told him that corn was yellow and he started hitting me. And I was like, ‘This is coldest sh*t that’s ever happened to me in my life.’ It was just like instantly life had changed.”

Chappelle’s fans would love if he did a sketch based on his experience

While Chappelle may have had a less than ideal first day of kindergarten, it certainly makes for a hilarious story. Though it’s rare that Chappelle does sketch comedy these days, we’re sure fans would absolutely love if he made a sketch based on his first day of school.